[DCU Societies] mailing list and a crime against the colour palette.

Hauk

Hi guys,

I've been getting a lot of e-mails from the [DCU Societies] mailing list, and I have to say, these e-mails are a crime against colours and the English language.

For instance, the latest e-mail is pretty much ALL IN CAPS. OMG LET'S PROTEST FEES. And the previous two [DCU Societies] e-mails make horrific use of colour.

If you want people to protest, at least make the e-mail look serious.

Rabble, rabble, etc.

Discuss.

gizmo

I blame the government.

lithiumoxide

I mentioned this in another thread that now seems to be deleted for some reason, but there is no need for repeating everything four times, or writing it all in caps.

While the message is of a serious nature, formatting an email like this makes it very difficult to read, and I'm sure many people will just not bother reading it.

GLaDOS

lithiumoxide wrote: »

I mentioned this in another thread that now seems to be deleted for some reason, but there is no need for repeating everything four times, or writing it all in caps.

While the message is of a serious nature, formatting an email like this makes it very difficult to read, and I'm sure many people will just not bother reading it.

Just read it there, very hard to take it seriously

Stev_o

Oh god. Just saw the email there.

Our SU President resorting to caps lock and excessive copy and paste gives the general impression that DCU is under the guidance of a group of 4 year olds that have just been told they aren't allowed to eat any sweets.

Christ is that a shameful way to present yourself to the student body as a the elected President.

johnmcdnl

Stev_o wrote: »

Oh god. Just saw the email there.

Our SU President resorting to caps lock and excessive copy and paste gives the general impression that DCU is under the guidance of a group of 4 year olds that have just been told they aren't allowed to eat any sweets.

Christ is that a shameful way to present yourself to the student body as a the elected President.

well I didn't vote for her - I blame all ye

Gman1

I can understand why its in all caps and colours everywhere. They are trying to get people to go out and protest, and people in this country are renowned for their lazyiness when it comes to protesting, and standing up for themselves.

I asked a few people "are you going to protest?", and the answers I got back where:

"why bother"
"maybe"
"not much point is there"

Thats why they over used the caps lock. It was silly of them to do so, but they wanted their point to get across to everyone.

Skylinehead

That message would encourage me not to protest, in spite though. Wrong way to get attention. Especially with the 4x.

Stev_o

Gman1 wrote: »

I can understand why its in all caps and colours everywhere. They are trying to get people to go out and protest, and people in this country are renowned for their lazyiness when it comes to protesting, and standing up for themselves.

I asked a few people "are you going to protest?", and the answers I got back where:

"why bother"
"maybe"
"not much point is there"

Thats why they over used the caps lock. It was silly of them to do so, but they wanted their point to get across to everyone.

Last time i checked when people were trying to persuade me to do anything it didnt involve them repeating each sentence four times while shouting ( real life alternative to all caps i guess).

Megan is supposed to be the representative of the student body yet here she is showing a complete lack of maturity to purpose a coherent and reasonable reason why any of us should take part in this protest. We are college students not kiddies how about she take that into account.

Don't see how anyone could defend that email.

andrew163

Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos.

wonderfulname

Hauk wrote: »

For instance, the latest e-mail is pretty much ALL IN CAPS. OMG LET'S PROTEST FEES.

Sure you didn't mean
OMG LET'S PROTEST FEES!!!
OMG LET'S PROTEST FEES!!!
OMG LET'S PROTEST FEES!!!

I don't know why its all in threes..

Take a look at the attachment, it seems to think DCU is a member of USI. Its also painful to read.

Oh and did anyone else notice that aside from the assault on the senses they also managed to get the date of the march wrong?

Daysha

lithiumoxide wrote: »

I mentioned this in another thread that now seems to be deleted for some reason, but there is no need for repeating everything four times, or writing it all in caps.

Just to clear up that had been deleted by admins since the same thread had been spammed across multiple forums.

As for the email, I don't want higher fees but I probably won't go to the march. No email is going to change that regardless of how it's written tbh.

Jiggy

I agree with Hauk, got sent the email twice and both times I couldn't bring myself to read the whole thing. The format and grammer looks like it was sent by a drunk student not the SU President, I initially thought it was was some form of 419.
This years SU has done nothing fantastic and all I can seem to expect til the end of their term is sadly the same negative outcome on students and socities.

VinnyTGM

Don't let the email take away from the fact that there is a protest, and if you don't try to stop the govt. bringing in higher fees then don't complain about it when they do. If every third level student went on the march it would make the govt. think about it a little bit more.

StiLL-TrAiNinG

Needs more colour.

slasher_65

Personally, I was disappointed that they didn't throw in some rotating flaming skull .gifs in there.

Seriously though, it left a really bad impression.

OrionsBelt

OMG, Meg used Cap Logs!!! And then she dared to use the copy and paste function. We should march to her office and demand her resignation!!!

Talk about making a big deal about nothing. Its called emphasising the point. Maeve went a bit far resending it, but if it gets the people to show up I say go Meg. Hail to the Chief

Skylinehead

It makes the SU look silly and childish though. That's the point.

KenHy

It's a pretty poor way of emphasizing a point! Personally I didn't read it so missed the point entirely because it was so visually unapealing.

Urizen

KenHy wrote: »

Personally I didn't read it so missed the point entirely because it was so visually unapealing.

That really says a lot more about you than it does Meg. The formatting will grab the attention of most students, which is the goal in this kind of thing. Maybe stop being so pedantic and actually read the email? This is an important issue.

gizmo

So now that the email issue has been dealt with, who wants to start a thread where we can discuss whether bringing in fees in some form is a good or bad idea?

robby^5

OrionsBelt wrote: »

OMG, Meg used Cap Logs!!!

Captains Log, Stardate 64327.8:

DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.

Einstein?

Would you rather have some formal email trying to scrape some sort of seriousness? I think the more informal the SU president writes in his/her emails the better. It's just plain moaning about color, font and what not. It gets the message across to a rather oblivious crowd who, for the most part, don't care about this protest.

On a more serious note, the march is utterly pointless and will have just about no effect on what the Government decides to do about the adressed issues.

Steef

StiLL-TrAiNinG wrote: »

Needs more colour.

hahaha, train you are epic, nice inside joke there

anyways everyone know the more annoying the email the more people will talk about it, its a shame to think that its from the SU President, I though someone in that position would realize that there not representing 4 year olds

lithiumoxide

Urizen wrote: »

That really says a lot more about you than it does Meg. The formatting will grab the attention of most students, which is the goal in this kind of thing.

No, it won't. If it's not easy to read, people simply won't read it. I do a *lot* of PR and media relations, and the last things I would ever use are caps, excessive repetition, and colour.

Polarity

gizmo wrote: »

So now that the email issue has been dealt with, who wants to start a thread where we can discuss whether bringing in fees in some form is a good or bad idea?

Someone please do this. I haven't been able to find a single good source of information on the current issue, just people doing a lot of shouting with very little apparent reason.

GLaDOS

Honestly, If I hadn't have seen this thread I probably would have skipped over the email at first glance, assuming it was spam

Carri

Mine went straight to spam.
I found it due to the number of people laughing at it.

Whatever about caps..
Repeating sentences over and over again aren't going to make them any more prominent. (It just makes them annoying)

It may seem a bit daring, but surely the use of bold italic and underline would get the point across better.

Surely there should be some degree of formality from the Union president.

Also could I recommend the use of a spell checker in SU?

public_enemy

Urizen wrote: »

That really says a lot more about you than it does Meg. The formatting will grab the attention of most students, which is the goal in this kind of thing. Maybe stop being so pedantic and actually read the email? This is an important issue.

If I come over and scream my head off at you for 10 minutes repeating half-formed lines that make pretty much no sense, are you going to smile and and listen politely? That's pretty much what you're asking people to do.

What you're seeing here is the attention the fomatting has grabbed, and it's almost all negative. People aren't being pedantic by criticising, I don't think anyone would care if she misplaced an apostrophe or spelled the occasional word incorrectly. That mail is profoundly difficult to actually read.

Wolfe Tone

It made me want to not march tbh.

Jiggy

I've sent drunk emails before but I've never started one with "LADS!!! LISTEN THE HECK UP!!.

She does retain some form of decent statement but the CAPS LOCK returns ! " This is real, and trust me - this is happening. So we need to make noise RIGHT NOW to stop it! People will not be able to come back to college with these implications."

Finishing it off " It shall be a loada fun anyways...!", hold on a second, I thought this email was supposed to be serious and inspiring (not very clear from her opening) and now if we go marching to try make sure students grants are not cut so far that they are unable to attend college it will all end up being lots of fun...

....yeah.

Grudaire

*
DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
**DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
**DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.
**DCU - WE NEED TO TAKE PART. THIS IS SERIOUS!!!!!!! We need at least 1000 students out.*
*

Student Politics - Serious Business

Hauk

I know rite.

Any spanner that thinks they can get people to some sort of protest and then call it a bit of a laugh is a feckin dillusioinal gob****e.

Good feckin' luck.

andyman

Some of the crap in here is hilarious!

I couldn't care how the e-mail is formatted. I'm glad she sent one in the first place. Imagine the uproar here if she didn't send one if people start getting hormonal about a few repeated sentences and colours!

Now, Collie on the megaphone in the Hub, that was annoying!

Green Hand Guy

I think Megan's email did a great job of grabbing people's attention. The only place she fell short was the subject line. Should have been something more along the lines of "YOU HAVE WON NIGERIA LOTTERY" or "Enlarge your p3nis for free!!!!"

Daysha

andyman wrote: »

Some of the crap in here is hilarious!

I couldn't care how the e-mail is formatted. I'm glad she sent one in the first place. Imagine the uproar here if she didn't send one if people start getting hormonal about a few repeated sentences and colours!

What he said.

There's over-reacting, there's badly over-reacting, and then there's some of you guys. Purposefully not wanting to march because you didn't like the formatting of an email....give me a fcuking break.

The college DOES need a lot of students at it, and it's her job to make sure that happens. If she thinks that kind of email is the way to do it, fair enough. But the way some of you can get worked up over something so petty really says a lot more about you than her.

gizmo

Daysha wrote: »

The college DOES need a lot of students at it, and it's her job to make sure that happens. If she thinks that kind of email is the way to do it, fair enough. But the way some of you can get worked up over something so petty really says a lot more about you than her.

Given the situation the country is currently in, I think they'd be better off with less people pointlessly marching against fees and more people sitting down and looking at the situation from a more realistic standpoint.

CollegeSpew

gizmo wrote: »

Given the situation the country is currently in, I think they'd be better off with less people pointlessly marching against fees and more people sitting down and looking at the situation from a more realistic standpoint.

^

Politicians pay no attention to protests. They also pay no attention to students.

The amount of students who actually bother voting is absurdly low, why would they bother trying to appease people who won't be voting for(or against) them anyway?

Stev_o

Daysha wrote: »

What he said.

There's over-reacting, there's badly over-reacting, and then there's some of you guys. Purposefully not wanting to march because you didn't like the formatting of an email....give me a fcuking break.

The college DOES need a lot of students at it, and it's her job to make sure that happens. If she thinks that kind of email is the way to do it, fair enough. But the way some of you can get worked up over something so petty really says a lot more about you than her.

How is it over reacting at all?

Iv read spam mail that's more concise then that drabble that was sent to everyones emails.

Mean for f*ck sake the email itself displays no information of what is going on and why we stand to see a increase in college fees, a reduction in grants or how getting on the streets will make any difference whatsoever.

Its complete and utter rabble that id expect a five year old to right when they are told they aren't allowed to eat any sweets next week.

People who support that email are either very simple or just clueless.

GLaDOS

It's not over reacting, it's pointing out the email looks ****, which it does.

Noodleworm

The email reminds me of those annoying spam youtube comments.
Maybe a line of caps-lock is ok to grab attention but I don't think the copy and pasting was necessary.
Encouraging people to go "for the laugh' probably won't get a very good idea.
Students are marching to to show that they deserve respect and should not be stuck with impossible fees.
If people show up drunk and rowdy, or cause any trouble it will cause the exact opposite effect, could end up showing students as a nuisance who don't take things seriously.
If it draws negative attention then maybe people won't think theres anything wrong with leaving students without drinking money.

Gman1

5 euro in forbidden planet. it would be awesome if loads of people got them for the march. :P

Urizen

Gman1 wrote: »

5 euro in forbidden planet. it would be awesome if loads of people got them for the march. :P

Ha, the anti-Scientology protesters use them too. Awesome

Daysha

gizmo wrote: »

Given the situation the country is currently in, I think they'd be better off with less people pointlessly marching against fees and more people sitting down and looking at the situation from a more realistic standpoint.

I agree with you that the march itself is a mere PR stunt more than anything, but with over 10,000 people expected thats a pretty big stunt that DCU students may as well pop along too if they want (even if we're not affiliated with the organisers )

gizmo

Daysha wrote: »

I agree with you that the march itself is a mere PR stunt more than anything, but with over 10,000 people expected thats a pretty big stunt that DCU students may as well pop along too if they want (even if we're not affiliated with the organisers )

Indeed, a PR stunt that I'm amazed people think is a good idea. I'd much prefer 10,000 people to march and say "Yea, we're aware of the tough economic climate but remember, third level funding is extremely important for the continued development of the country so lets look at some middle ground solutions like those found in the UK" rather than "FUUUUUUUU FEES!!!!".

tomar-re

OrionsBelt wrote: »

OMG, Meg used Cap Logs!!!....

Talk about making a big deal about nothing. Its called emphasising the point. Maeve went a bit far resending it, but if it gets the people to show up I say go Meg. Hail to the Chief

When every student gets every email twice in a day then they stop caring and stop reading them. This is the negative aspect that you are ignoring, "over saturation of the market" is the PR term for annoying everyone every day about an issue, emphasis should be made with the text not the bombarding of emails. This causes apathy to all further student protests and issues. Is it any wonder that this is the 1st protest in 2 years?

Urizen wrote: »

That really says a lot more about you than it does Meg. The formatting will grab the attention of most students, which is the goal in this kind of thing. Maybe stop being so pedantic and actually read the email? This is an important issue.

Right, you are wrong, it says that the average student thinks the president can't communicate with those she represents. The formatting is worse then the SPC or union emails that I usually get and is the worst email i have ever seen from anyone ever! Reading the email isn't worth the effort as it says everything repeatedly and just offend my eyes, that will turn the average student off.
Don't just defend the union cos you're on it, make a reasoned argument why this grabs the attention instead of going straight to the great union line of "You just don't understand" cos that makes us all respect you a little less. Grab my attention with saying clever things cleverly.

Einstein? wrote: »

Would you rather have some formal email trying to scrape some sort of seriousness? I think the more informal the SU president writes in his/her emails the better. It's just plain moaning about color, font and what not. It gets the message across to a rather oblivious crowd who, for the most part, don't care about this protest.

On a more serious note, the march is utterly pointless and will have just about no effect on what the Government decides to do about the adressed issues.

Einstein, the issue is not about formality it is about the unions inability to get across its message and to compound the average students' idea that the union are a self-serving clique that never engage with the student body. When I see an email like that it takes away from the legitimacy of the union in my mind, which damages any actions they take from then on. You need the support of the people you claim to represent, if they all think you are a spa then nobody will care.

The idea of a march is a good idea IF we had a dedicated group to capitalise on it, the march itself is run by USI which I think are useless and counter productive. The march itself seems to be about a collection of issues which are mislabeled "education not emigration" while the material about the march is all about the cuts to spending in education not the lack of jobs available and investment by successive governments. We could make the government listen by working towards a shared goal of reform of spending in education but the current and previous shower in USI have aimed for status quo rather then reform which leads to fees by registration being ~€1600 for irish students instead of sorting the problems out.

Green Hand Guy wrote: »

I think Megan's email did a great job of grabbing people's attention. The only place she fell short was the subject line. Should have been something more along the lines of "YOU HAVE WON NIGERIA LOTTERY" or "Enlarge your p3nis for free!!!!"

Obvious troll is obvious!

lithiumoxide

Just as well my gmail account seemed to remove the nasty colours people are talking about.

KenHy

Urizen wrote: »

That really says a lot more about you than it does Meg. The formatting will grab the attention of most students, which is the goal in this kind of thing. Maybe stop being so pedantic and actually read the email? This is an important issue.

Tomar prety much answered this, but I'd add in that being in university is supposed to be a mark of some form of intelligence, I'd appreciate being treated as such and don't have any time for the type of nonsense that was sent out by the SU last week and hence didn't reed it.
If that says anything about me, so be it.

Urizen

KenHy wrote: »

Tomar prety much answered this, but I'd add in that being in university is supposed to be a mark of some form of intelligence, I'd appreciate being treated as such and don't have any time for the type of nonsense that was sent out by the SU last week and hence didn't reed it.
If that says anything about me, so be it.

If you didn't read it, why are you here complaining about it? :P

Any campaign of this scale is aimed at the lowest common denominator. I'm not saying it's a good system. But for a campaign that desperately needs numbers, the right thing to do is attempt to grab the attention of as many students as possible. Even if the format is irritating, MOST people will have read through that mail. And hopefully have enough of a 'mark of intelligence' to look past the use of Caps Lock and see the importance of the underlying issue.

And even this discussion bashing the format of the mail will, hopefully, make more people aware of the proposed fee increase and get people out to the march on Wednesday.

lithiumoxide

Urizen wrote: »

Any campaign of this scale is aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Erk. Is that a stab at the intelligence of college-goers?

Urizen wrote: »

Even if the format is irritating, MOST people will have read through that mail. And hopefully have enough of a 'mark of intelligence' to look past the use of Caps Lock and see the importance of the underlying issue.

So "most people" are of the "lowest common denominator"?

Having done a degree, and now doing a postgrad, I'd hope that I have some sort of intelligence; but I had to read that email two or three times before figuring out what that underlying issue was.

Urizen wrote: »

And even this discussion bashing the format of the mail will, hopefully, make more people aware of the proposed fee increase and get people out to the march on Wednesday.

I think it'll take a bit more than a single protest (backup with facts/figures/alternative options would strengthen the case), but yes, hopefully it'll highlight the concerns to the public and government!

Stev_o

Urizen wrote: »

And even this discussion bashing the format of the mail will, hopefully, make more people aware of the proposed fee increase and get people out to the march on Wednesday.

You mean the "YOU WILL PAY 3000 EURO NEXT YEAR"?

That's some great information your giving to a student body. Most of the people going to this march won't have a clue about the wider picture of this whole situation. The country is in the ****ter and then government need revenue in some shape or form. As much as it sucks that fees will increase it's inevitable and unavoidable the march on Wednesday won't make them suddenly do a uturn on the matter.


For **** sake sure the USI hasn't even come out and pointed out one reasonable alternative to any increase in fee it's just all a big shouting match and they are shouting against a wall.